Anonymous Donor Pledges $25 Million to Columbia Business School

Construction of Columbia Business School (CBS)’s new home on the Manhattanville campus has received a major boost in the form of a large gift from an anonymous donor, the school announced today. The gift will also support the school’s Social Enterprise Program.

Of the total $25 million gift, $23.25 million will go toward construction of the new Manhattanville facilities, designed by celebrated New York architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The new home for the business school is intended to create a sense of community though multifunctional spaces where students, faculty, alumni and others can exchange ideas. Moreover, it will “reflect the fast-paced, high-tech, and highly social character of business in the 21st century,” the school states.

The Social Enterprises Program, which helps students apply business skills to social enterprise endeavors, will receive the remaining $1.75 million of the anonymous gift.

This most recent gift marks the third major donation CBS has received in support of the campus expansion. Henry Kravis ’69 of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) pledged $100 million in October 2010, and Leon Cooperman ’67, chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, donated $25 million in April. Both Kravis and Cooperman are members of the CBS Board of Overseers.